Planned crackdown on illegals rattles biz owners

Bay Area business owners featured in the San Francisco Business Times story "Just doing their jobs" on June 9, 2006, say the Bush administration's impending crackdown on employers of illegal workers is unfair and destructive to the local economy.

The new rules, so-called reforms of existing laws set to take effect Sept. 9, are, among other things, meant to force employers to take more responsibility in verifying the legal status of their workers.

Employers say it's hard to know for sure if workers are here legally or not. But they are certain that industries like construction and restaurants could not function without unauthorized immigrants.

"It stinks," said Tony Ruiz, owner of Antonio Ruiz Construction, a 30-year-old Bayview firm that performs public works projects for the city of San Francisco and employs primarily Mexican-born laborers. "Immigrants are the fuel that drives this country."

Ruiz, who said he will abide by the law, keeps required employee documents in a personnel file but doesn't double- and triple-check identification.

Last year, he told the Business Times, "I'll close my shop before I become a part-time cop. ... And then they can have my 68 employees walking the streets."

He has since reconsidered, if only a bit.

"As a maverick, if I said, 'Screw it,' I would hurt more people than I would help."

Business owners currently send employee information to federal agencies, such as the Social Security Administration and the Internal Revenue Service. Eventually the agency sends a letter to the employer if the documents cannot be verified. The companies are then supposed to ask the workers to fix the problem, or fire them.

Charles Phan, owner of Slanted Door, whose staff is roughly 50 percent Latino and a quarter Asian said, "If you fire them, they're going to turn around and go to another restaurant. They're not going to go back across the border. This is a bigger problem the country needs to address."

The new rules, which are still being finalized, intend to place greater pressure on employers to actively seek out verification and pursue any questions promptly, or risk fines or prosecution.

"It's hard enough to find trained, qualified people," said Phan. "It's never been easy. This profession doesn't pay a lot."

Phan said he would follow the new rules, even if he doesn't quite know how. "I don't have any tools to do any of this stuff."